Dr. Michael Darter selected to receive IAOTP’S Lifetime Achievement Award in Higher Education

Dr. Michael Darter will be honored at the International Association of Top Professionals annual awards gala in Las Vegas

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, June 24, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Dr. Michael Darter, Engineer and Professor, was recently selected for the Lifetime Achievement Award in Higher Education by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) for 2025 for his outstanding leadership, dedication, and commitment to the industry.

While inclusion with the International Association of Top Professionals is an honor in and of itself, only a few select members are chosen for the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in Higher Education. These special honorees are selected to receive this award based on their longevity in their fields, their contributions to society, and their impact on their industries. Dr. Darter will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in Higher Education this December at IAOTP's 2025 Annual Awards Gala at the remarkable Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.
www.iaotp.com/award-gala

With five decades in the industry, Dr. Darter has certainly proven himself an expert in his field. Dr. Darter is has excelled in multiple roles throughout the course of his career, with a strong concentration on the transportation sector. He was a Principal Engineer at Applied Research Associated Inc for over 23 years, where he was responsible for the research, design, construction, materials, training, evaluation of highways, streets, and airports both in the USA and many other countries around the world. He led concrete pavement development of the AASHTO mechanistic-empirical design procedure for highway pavements, that has been implemented by many U.S. states.

Dr. Darter was also the Executive Director of the Pavement Research Institute at the University of Minnesota where he directed the work of increasing pavement engineering research at the University of Minnesota.

Earlier in his career, he was a Civil Engineer for the Utah Department of Transportation as well as a Research Engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers. His work for the Army Corps was to develop a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) which was subsequently adopted my all US military and commercial airports across the globe.

In addition to his career as an Engineer, Dr. Darter was a highly revered Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaine for 30 years and received the Emeritus title in 2003. In 2000, he received the coveted University of Illinois Certificate of Merit awarded to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and accomplishments of one faculty member each year.

Dr. Darter has traveled and presented and evaluated on engineering studies across the globe in many countries such as China, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Columbia, Boliva, Saudi Arabia, Isarel, Canada, Mexico, India, and in Europe.

Areas of expertise include, but are not limited to research, education, training, engineering, and leadership.

Prior to his career, Dr. Darter earned his B.S.C.E. and M.S.C.E. in Civil Engineering from the University of Utah. He earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas of Austin developing the pavement design reliability procedure for the Texas DOT (still in usage today). He has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers on innovative transportation infrastructure research and design projects he and many students worked on for States and the Federal Highway Administration.

Throughout his illustrious career, Dr. Darter has received many awards and accolades and has been recognized worldwide for his accomplishments. He won the AASHTO Best US project award in 2012 for developing the AASHTO mechanistic-empirical design procedure for highway pavements. He was awarded the Carlos Jofre Award from the EUPave at the 14th International Symposium on Concrete Roads in Krakow, Poland, in 2023; the Hartmann-Hirschman-Egan Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Concrete Pavement Association in 2017; the Swedish Concrete Award in Stockholm in 2017; a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Utah DOT and Utah ACPA in 2015; America's Transportation Award Grand Prize (I-15 CORE Project) to Utah DOT (Darter was Pavement Engineer of Record) from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in 2013; the D. Grant Mickle Award from the Transportation Research Board in 1989. This year, he will be considered for a feature in TIP (Top Industry Professionals) Magazine. He will be honored at IAOTP's annual awards gala at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas this December for his selection of The Lifetime Achievement Award in Higher Education.

The President of the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP), Stephanie Cirami, stated: "Choosing Dr. Darter for this honor was an easy decision for our panel to make. He is inspirational, influential, and a true visionary and thought leader. We cannot wait to meet him and celebrate his accomplishments at this year's gala."

Looking back, Dr. Darter attributes his success to his supportive parents and children as well as his students over the years. When not working, he enjoys spending time with his family. He is currently working with a Hollywood producer who has shown genuine enthusiasm for his written work "Vanished In Valor" for his MIA brother, developing a screenplay and anticipates the need for substantial efforts to fully develop the complex storyline for a full-length feature film.

For more information please visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-darter-pe-phd-2b047617/

About IAOTP

The International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) is an international boutique networking organization that handpicks the world’s finest, most prestigious top professionals from different industries. These top professionals are given an opportunity to collaborate, share their ideas, be keynote speakers, and to help influence others in their fields. This organization is not a membership that anyone can join. You have to be asked by the President or be nominated by a distinguished honorary member after a brief interview.

IAOTP’s experts have given thousands of top prestigious professionals around the world, the recognition and credibility that they deserve and have helped in building their branding empires. IAOTP prides itself to be a one-of-a-kind boutique networking organization that hand picks only the best of the best and creates a networking platform that connects and brings these top professionals to one place.

For More information on IAOTP please visit: www.iaotp.com

Stephanie Cirami
IAOTP
+1 212-634-4427
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